Mizzou Tigers win 5th straight in basketball, hanging 100 on Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Mark Mitchell led a quartet of Missouri Tigers in double figures with 20 points on Sunday afternoon as MU cruised to a 112-63 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

The non-conference wins are piling up now for coach Dennis Gates and the Tigers (5-1).

They’ve won five straight, all at Mizzou Arena, since opening the season with a loss at Memphis — their 19th straight defeat at the time in a skid dating to last season.

Sunday’s outcome was never in doubt — that is, after MU missed its first three shot attempts, all on 3-pointers. The Tigers’ first bucket, a 3-pointer courtesy of Anthony Robinson II, came at the 17:19 mark of the opening half.

And after that, Mizzou never trailed in the game again.

Caleb Grill scored 14 points for Missouri, including 12 off 3-pointers. He was 4-of-8 from deep. Kansas City native Tamar Bates added 13 points and Robinson finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

As a team, MU out-rebounded its visitors 50 to 32 and shot 52% from the field to just 36% for the Golden Lions (1-6).

Freshman Golden Lions guard Chop Paljor of Omaha, Nebraska, was the only Arkansas-Pine Bluff player in double-figure points on Sunday. He led all scorers with 22 points.

During their five-game win streak, the Tigers have beaten Howard, Eastern Washington, Mississippi Valley State, Pacific and now Arkansas-Pine Bluff, all in Columbia.

Missouri’s 2024 men’s college basketball schedule becomes more challenging after this week’s next game — at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday against Lindenwood at Mizzou Arena.

After that come the Cal Bears (6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3 at Mizzou Arena) and a looming Sunday, Dec. 8 showdown against the border rival and top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, also at Mizzou Arena.